Another post from Daruma

Ever wonder about karma?  Do things you've done really come round and bite you in the a$$ later in life?  I'm begining to think so. 
When we came to Florida way back after our Grenada trip the discussions always came round to the same thing, the trip was ok, quite a learning curve, saw a lot of stuff, boat needs this and that or would be nice to have this and that etc but the thing we both agreed upon was that we needed a reliable source for weather any where we may be so we know if we should be leaving or snuggling down where we are to ride out a storm.  It seemed the answer was an SSB radio which is like a ham radio on steriods, meaning that it does all the ham radio channels and marine and weather channels as well, seemed like the answer indeed.  I began a search and had the discussion with another boat at the Cocoa Village Marina where we tied up at the time which was just shortly after our return to civilization having traversed the West Indies from Grenada.  The fellow on this boat commented that he was never going offshore again so I could buy his if I wanted for a real reasonable price.  He and his wife took Traci out shopping while I was away on a job and he gave me a ride to the rental car company, seemed like a nice guy.  I got his email address and phone number and stayed in touch for the next 6 months at which time I called him and he drove for 2 hours to meet us half way and we exchanged the radio and tuner for $1000.00 and he explained that he couldn't get the antenna apart due to corrosion so I'd have to get one or use a stay on the boat as one, all good.  Here's where the Karma comes in.  I commented to Traci after first meeting him that he had so much hair on his ears that it looked like he was wearing earmuffs, the poor man.  She hadn't noticed at first but shared the same sentiments after next she saw him.  Afterwards when we were talking of the radio or install  and his name didn't come to me quickly I refered to him as "Fuzzy Ears" and she knew without question who I spoke of.  Now, 3 years later as I look in the mirror to shave after a shower, I notice the small forest growing on my own ears and turning darker and becoming more noticeable by the hour, the hair in my nose seems to grow 4 times faster than the hair on my head ever did and hair seems to be growing in places you don't need any while slowing growth in places you want it.  I've frequently commented to Traci how sorry I was I ever called her attention to his own hair dilemma and called him Fuzzy Ears, and to top it off, 3 years later I get around to putting a new antenna on and hooking up this life saving radio and the damn thing doesn't seem to work!  I'M SORRY ALL READY!
A couple years ago I hooked the radio to what is called a dipole antenna and a ground in the boat that goes through to water and expected I should hear something but didn't.  I quickly wrote this off to not having a proper antenna and counterpoise which is sorta a fancy term for a ground that balances or counter acts the frequency you're going to transmit on and uses the surroundings to reflect your signal for round the world type reception.  I bought an antenna and radial counterpoise, had Steel Services bend me up some stainless to mount the antenna, got her all hooked up and turned it on like it was Christmas morning and haven't gotten a peep out of it yet.  I'm going to send it to Tallahassee and see whats wrong with it.  Fuzzy Ears' revenge I guess.

                                                        As yet unpolished antenna mount

                                                       Where'd I put that mouse?

                                                    Crew's home parked behind us

                                                    Whipped this up on the beach (not really)

                                               Bending water with the power of my mind?
Not really bending the water with my mind, this is how crooked our floating house in Canada was with the water being so low when we were home last fall.  The sand sculpture was from the contest in Fort Myers.  A drunk guy on a plane told me in some midwest state they have a butter carving contest?  Sara and John's boat as we see it out our door and Crew in their house rooting through an open drawer.
Later,
Dave

Bahamas 2013

The above and following pics are of Thunderball Grotto at Staniel Cay in the Exuma island chain.  Around 1964 a James Bond movie called Thunderball was filmed there with Sean Connery and used some of the locals as divers in the movie.  Sir Sean must have been impressed because appearantly he lives in Nassau somewhere now.

The next one is Sara and Johnny Hamrick who was cold and wimpy so Traci got sucky baby a blanket.

                                         Brandy leaving the dingy lagoon at Staniel Cay

                                         Dingy parking lagoon at Staniel Cay
Sir Farts Alot heard Traci say something about taking the dingy to Rose Island and exploring and so a few hours later he asked if we were going to take the ding a ling to the island or not.  Traci thought that was pretty funny.  When they got here I started reading the all the rules, sit down to pee, don't go out on the deck without telling anyone and on and on and on and the last one was they had to send me an email for this blog about their adventure.  The following is what they sent:

Went to see Dave and Traci on our holidays. 

Enjoyed it very much. Greatly enjoyed all the snorkeling, fishing/spear fishing, going to Alantis, seeing the different islands, and sending days on the beaches. 

Traci fed us well, ahha and Dave taught us how to run the boat. First night, making Greg the First Mate and putting him in charge of the anchor light. Oh and can't forget, teaching him how to tie a bowline knot. We enjoyed the nights playing marbles and cards. It was an amazing trip and we all enjoyed it very much. 

Thanks again Dave and Traci for the great experience and good trip. It was nice seeing you guys and getting to spend time together.

So, if you guys want to come back next year and do different stuff then you have a full year that you have to listen to your mother and do as she says and if the reports are good then we'll talk.

I'll try and put some more pics up tonite and every chance I get.

Thanks for looking......Dave 

Friday, March 1, 2013
Well, we made it back to Florida in one piece and are safely tied to a dock at Port of the Islands Marina.  I will try to summarize our trip and you may find a few posts with pictures only as there are so many pictures and so little memory left at my age.
This year was busy with company of friends and some family coming and going in a steady stream with one party leaving in the a.m. and the next arriving in the p.m. and we had a blast sharing our experience.  We would love to have others visit us in such beautiful surroundings and get a look at things that most would never see in their lifetime as cruise ships don't take you to Thunderball Grotto or pull into Rose Island or Allens Cays and anchor in 4 feet of crystal clear water but there's only so much time and so little space so maybe next year.  We ran out of time this year and things I really wanted to do with the Patricks' weren't all possible due to the broken stay on the boat.  We were afraid of losing the mast in rough water while waiting for the new stay to arrive from Florida so we didn't move too far while they were on board.  I really wanted to take Shawn out in the deep water and crank the sails up and put a couple lines out and troll at 8 or 9 knots and wanted to sail with them to Allens Cays and let them see a real dark night unpolluted with any light and so many more stars than you ever see anywhere else.  As it was, Shawn helped me change the stay and I'm glad for the help.  Thanks Shawn.

On top of the roller furler is a plate held on with 2 pins are driven into the aluminum extrusion.  Corrosion from the different types of metal being in contact made the pins loose and one fell out and down between the furler extrusion and the cable and during use it splayed the individual wires out making the stay weak and it broke there.  It could've been alot worse than it was as the mast could've went over the side or stern and killed someone in the process.  I still have to dismantle it again to replace the pieces at the top of the furler that were lost when it broke but otherwise it's better than ever as I had a turnbuckle installed that wasn't on the old one and it's now fully adjustable and properly tensioned all around.  The furler, for the non sailers, is a device that the front sail is attached to that turns or undwinds and lets sail out to work and when you want to bring it in you pull a rope and the sail winds back up around the furler for compact storage.  All this turns on the wire or stay that supports the mast in the forward position of the boat.  There are six stays all together that share the load and 3 largest are in the range of 52 feet long and 10 mm thick stainless steel cable.

                                         Great place to dismantle a broken stay (Coyaba in foreground)

                                         Shark cruising by while dismantling the stay

                                         Brandy at Thunderball Grotto
Shawn and Leslee Patrick and their 2 kids, Brooklyn and Little Sir Farts Alot (Greg) flew down and joined us for a week.  Traci made Sir Farts Alot excuse himself from the table and run outside to the front of the boat to do his business so it became known as "the poop deck" and when he said he needed out from the table, everyone wasn't long moving to get him out there.  Traci fed us all burritos one night for supper and they were good but the results afterwards produced enough gas to fly the space shuttle into orbit and back.  She had such a good time with the kids that now she's talking grandchildren and is for sure going to be one of those meddling grandmothers.

                                         Shawn, groping Leslee, Brooklyn and Sir Farts Alot

Traci and I left Rose Island just outside of Nassau to head north a couple days after the Patricks left and it was a little rough but not choppy so I decided to throw the pink squid looking lure that has been onboard since we came up from Grenada.  There was a large debate over the effectiveness of WD40 on a lure which involved this very squid like lure 4 or so years ago.  Traci commented on the fish pole and muttered something about time being wasted and I commented that I was going to catch supper but first I was worried about a supply ship that seemed to be coming right at us.  We watched and though it appeared that he would likely pass behind us, I was concerned for the large amount of fish line and pink squid looking lure trailing behind us so I picked it up and began to reel in fast.  About 3 or 4 cranks into it and bam I had a fish on.  He didn't want any part of coming to the boat and the ship was bearing down on us so I asked Traci to give us 10 degrees to the left and she also pushed the throttles ahead some more which made it even harder to control the fish.  The ship appeared to go 10 degrees to his port as well thus avoiding our boat, fish and pink squid looking lure (with NO WD40 on it Shannon) and the throttles were pulled back and the fish slowly was brought to the stern of the boat, thrown inside the cockpit and given a shot of some rot gut rum that Paul bought on the Grenada trip and no one could drink.  It was a Mahi Mahi and he is delicious.  That's not a whale beside him in the below pic, it's me, I'm on holidays, give me a break.  I so wanted Shawn to catch one of these cause I so wanted to eat it.

I better go do some work before the admiral fires me but I'll try and put some more pics up tonite.  Bye for now and thanks for reading about our misadventures......
Dave and Traci